What Letter 6612 Means
If your business receives IRS Letter 6612, your Employee Retention Credit claim has moved from processing into formal examination. Letter 6612 typically accompanies an information document request seeking the records the IRS needs to verify eligibility and the amount of the credit claimed. It is, in substance, the opening of an audit focused specifically on the ERC, and it should be treated with the seriousness that any federal examination warrants.
Having represented taxpayers through the ERC enforcement wave, I can say plainly: the quality and organization of your first substantive response frequently shapes the entire trajectory of the audit. A disorganized or incomplete reply invites deeper scrutiny; a clear, well-supported submission can resolve the matter efficiently.
What the IRS Is Asking For
The information request attached to Letter 6612 generally seeks documentation across several themes:
- Eligibility basis. The IRS wants to know whether you claimed the credit based on a full or partial suspension of operations due to a government order, or on a significant decline in gross receipts, and it wants the underlying proof for whichever pathway you used.
- Government orders. If you relied on suspension, the IRS will ask you to identify the specific orders, their effective dates, and how they more than nominally affected your operations.
- Gross receipts data. If you relied on the revenue-decline test, the IRS will request comparative quarterly figures and supporting records.
- Wage computations. The IRS will examine how you determined qualified wages, including headcount thresholds and coordination with other relief programs and credits.
- Preparer and promoter involvement. The IRS often inquires about who prepared the claim and on what analysis.
Building Your Response
A persuasive response is organized, specific, and mapped directly to the statutory requirements. I approach it as constructing a narrative supported by primary evidence:
- State your eligibility theory clearly. Commit to the pathway—suspension or gross-receipts decline—and structure everything around proving that theory for each period claimed.
- Prove the government order, if applicable. Provide the actual orders, tie them to the specific operations affected, and explain—concretely—how they suspended more than a nominal portion of the business.
- Document the gross-receipts test, if applicable. Present the comparative revenue by quarter with source records that a reviewer can trace.
- Reconcile the wage calculation. Show how qualified wages were derived and how you avoided double-counting wages used for other programs.
- Address coordination issues. Demonstrate that the claim is internally consistent with the rest of your filings.
Every assertion should be backed by a document. Conclusory statements without support are the most common reason examinations expand.
Deadlines and Procedure
Information document requests carry response deadlines. If you need more time to assemble records—particularly government orders from the relevant period or payroll data—request an extension in writing before the deadline rather than allowing it to pass. Nonresponsiveness can lead the examiner to disallow the claim outright, converting a manageable audit into a disallowance you must then challenge on appeal.
Throughout the process, maintain a professional, cooperative posture. The examiner is verifying eligibility, not presumptively accusing you of wrongdoing. A collaborative, well-documented exchange is the fastest route to resolution.
When Eligibility Is Genuinely Strong
Many businesses were, in fact, eligible for the ERC and simply need to prove it. If your claim was grounded in a real government-order suspension or a genuine revenue decline, Letter 6612 is an opportunity to demonstrate that with evidence. The businesses that fare best are those that either documented eligibility contemporaneously or can reconstruct a rigorous record now.
When the Claim Was Promoter-Driven
A significant share of ERC claims originated with aggressive promoters who applied little or no genuine eligibility analysis. If your claim falls into this category, the examination is the moment to assess honestly whether eligibility can actually be supported. If it can, prove it. If it cannot, engaging counsel to evaluate options—including potential resolution or repayment pathways—is far wiser than submitting a response that cannot survive scrutiny.
The Role of Counsel
An ERC examination sits at the intersection of factual documentation, statutory interpretation, and procedural strategy. Representation allows you to present your case in the correct legal framework, manage communications with the examiner, and preserve appeal rights if the examination does not resolve favorably. Given the amounts often at stake and the aggressive enforcement posture, professional guidance is a prudent investment.
Letter 6612 is a demand for proof, not a verdict. Businesses that respond with organization, specificity, and documentary support convert a daunting notice into a resolvable process.
This article is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship.